I thought this would be a good ice-breaker to let everyone get to know one another a little better, and possibly even start giving everyone a chance to see who we would like to work with, as well as maybe just bringing a little understanding of where we come from from in terms of gaming. So, what are some of your favorite games? Favorite genres? C'mon, don't be shy! We won't make fun of you.

...Unless you play WoW. Then you will certainly be the butt of jokes by me.

This game was philosophical, plot and character driven, and tough as balls. Well, maybe not that tough, but if you weren't paying attention even some of the random enemies would just kill you. Every Final Fantasy (the main games) that I've played I could just zone out and hit X during the random encounters, but not Xenosaga. Then they made a sequel that dumbed down the combat and eased the difficulty.

I play anything with a compelling story, but if I had to narrow it down, it would be action-adventure. Although, I'm becoming more and more engrossed by action RPGs. I guess the preference is based on Ico and Shadow of the Colossus being my favorite games (HD remake coming out the 27th, I'm so damn excited!). The immersion in those games is unlike anything else I've ever played. They are some serious masterworks in the gaming genre imo.

Btw, I may go into full on hermit reclusion when The Last Guardian comes out, so don't get worried if you think I got kidnapped or something.

Honestly, never played any MMO. First off, I simply don't have the money for 'em. I know some are free, but I don't have internet at home right now (which costs moneez). Second, I don't want to like them and have them eat my soul.

I like most genres (though I haven't played any fighting or racing in what feels like forever). Being a broke college student, lately I tend to get games that will last me a loooong time so I've been playing a lot of RPGs lately (FPS multiplayers don't count, no internet). Playing Oblivion now (skyrimskyrimetc...), Mass Effect over the summer, Dragon Age before that. I was playing some Borderlands and Sins of a Solar Empire last week. I still need to beat Half-Life 2. In fact, I might play that tonight if I'm not too dead after work.

Some of my favorite all time games are ones that made me totally rethink how games can be played or stories can be told. Bioshock hit me in the face like a bag of bricks. As did Portal. Mass Effect's universe was so vast and amazing. The awe-inspiringly chaotic Liberty City of GTA3. The absolute beauty of Shadow of the Colossus. The dark atmosphere of the old Castlevania games. The frantic fun of Mario Kart. The addictive impossibility of Contra and Battle Toads. Super Mario World was just....

Okay, my favorite game of all time: Chrono Trigger. The first time I can think of that we had multiple endings based on what happened in-game, one of the best instances of time travel used ever, interesting characters, detailed plot, gripping story, robust fighting system, and just a beautiful game overall on a 16-bit system, with the Big Three of JRPGs working on it at some point: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Akira Toriyama, and Nobuo Uematsu. Downright fantastic game, and if you haven't played it yet, shame on you. Go play it!

As for any other games past that, I'm a huge platforming fan, and while Castlevania and Mega Man both hold deep places in my heart, I also like Mario, Sonic, Kirby, and others. And yes, I've played most Castlevanias, including the Holy Grail, Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo. We can skip the N64 and PS2 titles, and skip straight onto the PS3 Lords of Shadow for a good look at how a proper platform Castlevania game should be made. And don't talk to me about Mega Man X6-8... Those never existed.

I also like games with good storytelling, so games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, with their pure minimalism in the best possible way, the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Final Fantasy (up through FFVI), and oddly enough, for me, the God of War trilogy figure in heavily. I suppose, in a way, all of these games and more have factored into the way I want a video game to look and feel, culling different aspects and trying to incorporate them into any game I work on while keeping things "up to date", so to speak.

And don't forget a game with good music. The Mega Man franchise stands out on top of everything else, even Uematsu and Akira Yamaoka (sorry, big guy) for having fantastic music that doesn't stop. I also like Uematsu's scores (the score for FFVI is still my favorite FF score of all time), the music Yamaoka incorporated into the Silent Hill series (which was the ONLY redeeming factor for SH: Homecoming), and let's not forget the masterful work of Koji Kondo at Nintendo, for creating some of the world's best-known themes of all time.

Duke of Spoot wrote:This game was philosophical, plot and character driven, and tough as balls. Well, maybe not that tough, but if you weren't paying attention even some of the random enemies would just kill you. Every Final Fantasy (the main games) that I've played I could just zone out and hit X during the random encounters, but not Xenosaga. Then they made a sequel that dumbed down the combat and eased the difficulty.

FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Have you checked out Xenonauts? Indie developed, done right. It's in progress, going to the big euro show this weekend.

I love every genre, but out of them all, FPSs and RPG/Adventures are my favorite. Any game with a good story (Just finished Dragon Age Origins) I will enjoy and FPSs with an online abilities will help me lose hours. I own a Xbox360 and a wii (although to me, Nintendo has been losing its touch and I have a deep hatred for motion control gaming). I can't name all of the games I love but here are a few:

I used to be kind of a closet gamer (it all started when my brother got a shiny new N64 and I watched him play Zelda- Ocarina of Time). I planned to give it up when I went to college, but that plan officially failed when I got engaged to one of the most enthusiastic gamers I know. Now I'm going through a sort of gamer's renaissance, playing all the classics I might have missed. I'm a really a PS2 fan: 1) love the games, 2) college student = no $ for a PS3. I love games with a big, immersive world to explore. Also, I'm a sucker for an interesting/intelligent story, dynamic characters, and, above all, fun, solid, intuitive, yet innovative game play. Oh, and I LOve color . My favorites (in the order they were played, kind of): Spyro II, Zelda- Ocarina of Time, Paper Mario, Jak II, FFX, Okami (WHY did they close Clover Studio?!), and recently, God of War and Shadow of the Collossus. Currently playing: Zelda- Twilight Princess Hope to play soon: Ico, Prince of Persia-The Sands of Time, Portal and ... a bunch of PS3 games (Assassin's Creed etc.)

Dragon Age: Origins(PC) is probably my most favorite(DA 2 was a disappointment). I love RPGs. Some of my other favorites are:

Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2(PC)(I went on a gaming spree the weekend after I got NWN 2. Had 72, 3 day weekend, and played played over 60 hours of it. Almost had the game beat by the end of the weekend)Baldur's Gate 1 & 2(PC)Mass Effect 2(PC)Army of 2(Xbox 360)ES: Morrowind & Oblivion (I'm sure Skyrim will be added to that list in about 7 weeks)(PC)FF8 was my favorite Final Fantasy(PS2)Legend of the Dragoon(PS2)Total War series(PC)(anyone want to go head to head in Rome, Medieval 2, Empire, or Shogun 2 hit me up, only ever played against my younger brother and it just wasn't fair.)Mount & Blade: Warband(PC)(This would be a game that might be good for modding, check out taleworlds.com)

Also, I don't play much console. And never been a big on MMOs, though I may check out Guild Wars 2

The way that I see it, the two major deviations from the classic RPG format (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest) as far as gameplay is concerned are the inclusion of more strategic variables. For example, the ability to maintain a certain distance or cover from an enemy attack is not something taken into consideration in the earlier games I mentioned. Similarly, the ability to interact with the environment is also only taken into consideration on rare occasion. The answer to this problem thus far is to create a combat environment and have the player-controlled characters move around in it. This is split up in two ways, real-time and turn-based. Real-time RPGs (Fallout 3, Legend of Zelda) often include platformer or FPS elements to make the player act and think quickly, whereas tactical RPG's (Tactics Ogre, La Pucelle) involve more status functions and modifiers to make the player think more accurately. Additionally, I consider tactical RPG's to be a sort of puzzle game in a sense; there are often times in these games where stat modifiers create a distinct disadvantage to the player, and it is up to the player to prevail against overwhelming odds with sheer mathematical efficiency.

The problem with the 3D fighter that I see is the fact that there are too many control possibilities that are often ignored. Moving a character in three dimensions also implies that facing a character in those same three dimensions should also be accessible. In many games that I have played (Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive) this is often not the case- and how could it be? Having full range of movement and face would require a completely alien control scheme (one that would have people punching at the sky while attempting to learn to play). 3D fighters "solve" the issue by deleting the idea of "face"(the characters stare at one another for the entire match), just like 2D fighters, but rather allow strafing- which means that players will inevitably walk in circles around one another and see all the pretty scenery. and essentially bring up the case of perspective, moving back to first-person POV. However, I believe that would be breaking the character of the fighting genre, as the spectator's view of the impressive stunting that fighting characters can do is the core element of the the game, IMHO. The 2D fighter, on the other hand, shines when it doesn't attempt any shot at realism. The functionality of the game neatly fits the design of most computer keyboards/ console control pads and needs no further commitment. The best of these games, IMO, are innovative in other ways. In Guilty Gear, for instance, there are 3 meters (Block, Burst and Tension) that run in the background that apply buffs/debuffs based off of your actions in the game. And Smash Bros, well, had a whole host of innovations that could spend 10 pages describing.

Come to think of it, this post is pretty long for a "favorite X". Too long. BEHOLD MY SCREEN-FILLING POWERS!!!!

...Am I the only one who isn't that impressed by the Elder Scrolls series? Granted, I'm a platformer fan, which means I generally like my games to be between 7-15 hours, depending on said game, but still...

Break Man wrote:...Am I the only one who isn't that impressed by the Elder Scrolls series? Granted, I'm a platformer fan, which means I generally like my games to be between 7-15 hours, depending on said game, but still...

I used to not like it. I never played Morrowind and when I first got Oblivion I only played it for a couple hours before stopping. I picked Oblivion up again last year and discovered how awesome and in depth it can be.

Break Man wrote:...Am I the only one who isn't that impressed by the Elder Scrolls series? Granted, I'm a platformer fan, which means I generally like my games to be between 7-15 hours, depending on said game, but still...

At the moment all I play is Minecraft for the most part. If anyone is looking for a good server let me know. We are always looking for new player. Once the new elder scrolls comes out I will be on that for a while. Other than that I play MW games occasionally.